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Lehigh Valley student selected for three-year NSF research program

National program pairs undergraduates with top researchers

April 23, 2013

Lehigh Valley student selected for three-year NSF research program

CENTER VALLEY, Pa. -- Chibuzo Anojulu, a sophomore at Penn State Lehigh Valley, has been selected to participate in the Society for Developmental Biology's (SDB) Choose Development program. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Choose Development pairs undergraduate students from across the United States with leading researchers in developmental biology for a long-term professional development and research training project.

Born in Nigeria, Anojulu moved to the United States when she was 9 years old and currently resides in Allentown, Pa. Her love of science, and biology in particular, reached a new level when she began taking undergraduate courses at Penn State Lehigh Valley with Jacqueline McLaughlin, associate professor of biology and a member of SDB. When she heard about the Choose Development program, she encouraged Anojulu to apply.

"Chibuzo is one of the hardest-working and most congenial students I have ever taught," said McLaughlin. "Her quest to carry out undergraduate research and cultivate a career in scientific cell and developmental research is real, and sets the standard for work ethic and achievement for the other students in her classes."

As a selected participant in this program, Anojulu will receive a stipend in support of three summers as a full-time research intern in the laboratory of her chosen academic mentor. She has chosen and been accepted to work with Celeste Nelson, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Princeton University in New Jersey. Nelson's research group at Princeton studies the dynamic processes that control tissue development.

"I am so excited to be accepted into this prestigious program," said Anojulu. "Asking questions about the scientific processes behind cellular events like cell division and motility has fascinated me as an undergraduate. This will be an important stepping stone in my journey towards a career that involves scientific inquiry at an even higher level."